Quality Data Reporting

RHQDAPU Program Overview

The Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update initiative was initially developed as a result of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Section 5001(a) of Pub. 109-171 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 set out new requirements for the RHQDAPU program, which build on the ongoing voluntary Hospital Quality Initiative.

The initiative is intended to equip consumers with quality of care information to make more informed decisions about their health care, while encouraging hospitals and clinicians to improve the quality of inpatient care provided to all patients. The hospital quality of care information gathered through the initiative is available to consumers on the Hospital Compare Web site.

The RHQDAPU initiative requires "sub-section (d)" hospitals to submit data for specific quality measures for health conditions common among people with Medicare, and which typically result in hospitalization. For fiscal year 2008, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires hospitals to submit data regarding 27 quality measures. The data collected encompasses the following conditions: acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care improvement, 30-day mortality rates for acute myocardial infarction and heart failure patients, and the patients’ experience of care through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems patient survey.

Hospitals that do not participate in the RHQDAPU initiative will receive a reduction of 2.0 percent in their Medicare Annual Payment Update. Expansion of the reporting requirements has changed and will continue to change via the rulemaking process. Each year, proposed changes are posted for public comment. Hospitals are encouraged to review the proposed rules and provide feedback. Once all comments have been reviewed and considered, the rules are finalized and the final rule document is published, which outlines the requirements for the next fiscal year, and provides insight to changes anticipated for future fiscal years. A complete list of required measures can be found on the Measures Comparison.